Jesse Winchester

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Jesse Winchester(James Ridout Winchester), (born May 17, 1944, Bossier City, La.—died April 11, 2014, Charlottesville, Va.), American-born Canadian singer-songwriter who fled to Canada in 1967, after receiving a U.S. military draft notice, and subsequently lamented the loss of his homeland in plainspoken ballads—notably “Biloxi,” “Mississippi, You’re on My Mind,” “The Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” and “Yankee Lady”—that evoked his heartfelt recollections of his Southern roots. When Winchester (who had lived in Tennessee and Mississippi) left the U.S. to avoid serving during the Vietnam War, a conflict that he could not condone, he took $300 and an electric guitar. He began singing his self-composed songs in Montreal coffeehouses and got a break when his debut album, Jesse Winchester (1970), was produced by Robbie Robertson of the Band. Subsequent albums included Third Down, 110 to Go (1972), Learn to Love It (1974), and Let the Rough Side Drag (1976). When U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter announced (1977) an amnesty for draft dodgers, Winchester (who in 1973 had become a Canadian citizen) began touring and recording in the U.S., where the albums Nothing but a Breeze (1977) and Talk Memphis (1981) were recorded. He remained living in Canada until 2002. Winchester’s songs were covered by such singers as Elvis Costello, Patti Page, Jimmy Buffett, and Wilson Pickett. Winchester’s last two albums were Love Filling Station (2009) and A Reasonable Amount of Trouble, which at the time of his death had not been released.

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